The present invention relates to a method for processing silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials and more particularly to a method for processing at least two materials in which a color light-sensitive material provided thereon with a coated emulsion layer having a silver iodide content of not less than 3 mole % and another color light-sensitive material provided thereon with a coated emulsion layer substantially free of silver iodide can be processed in the common (same) processing solutions, whereby the size of a processing apparatus can be minimized and the operations thereof can be simplified.
Silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials (hereinafter referred to as "color light-sensitive material (s)") can be roughly classified into the following two groups: photographic color light-sensitive materials represented by color negative films, and color light-sensitive materials for prints represented by color paper. These color light-sensitive materials have conventionally been processed only in large-scale photofinishing laboratories, but recently a small-sized processing system called "Minilabo" has been developed and thus they are now processed even in a photography shop.
For such small-sized processing systems, it is of primary importance that they require a small area for installation and a small working space since they are generally installed in a small space such as a shop. For this reason, there has been a strong need for the development of a processing method which allows an automatic developing machine comprising a processing system to minimize and simplify processing operations.
Responding to the aforementioned demands, Japanese Patent Un-examined Publication (hereunder referred to as "J.P. KOKAI") Nos. 60-129747, 60-129748 and 61-134759 propose integrated automatic developing machines which can simultaneously process color light-sensitive materials for taking photographs and color light-sensitive materials for prints, conventionally processed separately, in the same processing baths during a part or whole of the processing. If such an idea could be realized, the foregoing two kinds of color light-sensitive materials could indeed be processed simultaneously with one automatic developing machine, and the space for installation thereof could be reduced substantially and the operations simplified since the number of processing solutions to be used could be minimized. However, the foregoing patents simply propose the simultaneous processing of different kinds of color light-sensitive materials and do not disclose solutions of the problems associated with such a simultaneous processing.
The color light-sensitive materials for print such as color paper are generally formed using a silver chlorobromide, silver chloride or silver bromide emulsion substantially free of silver iodide (average AgI content thereof: not more than 1 mole %). On the contrary, color light-sensitive materials for taking photographs such as color negative films are obtained using a silver iodobromide emulsion having an average AgI content of not less than 3 mole % for the purposes of enhancing the sensitivity and graininess of the resultant light-sensitive layers. In this regard, the term "average AgI content" herein means the ratio (expressed in "mole %") of the total amount of silver iodide to the total amount of silver halide included in the light-sensitive emulsion layer.
It has gradually become clear that various problems arise when light-sensitive materials greatly different in their halogen compositions including such silver iodide contents are simultaneously processed in the same processing solution.
Particularly, the inventors have found that serious stains of color paper are observed when the simultaneous processing of color negative films and color paper is continuously carried out. This is a serious problem to be solved to make such a simultaneous processing practically applicable.
It is found that the foregoing problem becomes noticable, in particular in cases where such a simultaneous treatment is carried out in a bleach-fixing bath and a water washing bath or a stabilization bath directly subsequent thereto and more particularly in cases where the amount of replenisher for the bleach-fixing bath and the water washing or stabilization bath is reduced to not more than 400 ml/m.sup.2 for color paper or not more than 800 ml/m.sup.2 for color negative films. Such stains are mainly caused by the interaction between sensitizing dyes derived from the color negative films and iodides likewise derived from color negative films which are dissolved into .the bleach-fixing bath to thereby cause dying of the color paper.
The bleach-fixing bath is very important in simplifying the processing of color light-sensitive materials since it allows one step to be simultaneously bleached and fixed. It is also effective for simplifying the processing operations and for reducing the expenses and labor required for the pretreatment of waste liquor to carry out, subsequent to the bleach-fixing process, water washing or stabilization process in which the amount of replenisher is greatly saved. Accordingly, there is a strong need, in this field, for the development of a method for simultaneously processing at least two different color light-sensitive materials wherein a bleach-fixing bath is used and processing is carried out in a replenisher-saving manner.